Someone once told me I should apply for an award because it’s the people who show up that win. The same is often said for the political process—we can’t complain about the results if we don’t raise our voices in the first place. Recently, I had the opportunity to join hundreds of teachers across the state to raise our voices about the Minnesota legislation regarding principal evaluations.

It all started with an email in my already crammed inbox. In my busy day as a teacher, it would have been easy to ignore. The fact that this project was “designed to ensure that classroom professionals have a voice in shaping education policy” piqued my curiosity. Although I had never heard of the VIVA Project (Voices Ideas Vision Action), I knew that if this was supported by Education Minnesota and the Minnesota Department of Education, it would at least be worth a look. Finding that the project was funded by the Gates and Bush foundations gave me more interest.

What I found was a vigorous and thoughtful discussion taking place online about the most important ways a principal should support both students and teachers and how those could be measured. Teaching professionals representing many different disciplines from all over the state communicated their thoughts and I joined the conversation, not knowing if it would go any further, but hoping it would. I hoped the VIVA Project could live up to its name.

Showing up to that conversation resulted in my participation in a writing collaborative with 11 other teachers from around the state who would shape the ideas of more than 500 educators into a document to embody the vision of those voices. The process was a unique experience. VIVA provided a technology platform. Using conference calls, video calls, the VIVA website and Googledocs, the participants spent hundreds of hours over a threeweek time period collaborating on what became our final report.

As a profession, teaching can be lonely. We barely have time to talk to other teachers in our buildings, much less teachers across the state. Throughout the process, Donna Drescher, Brionna Harder, Kim Hill, Beth Hillerns, Julie Miller-Hays, Bruce Richards, Mary Cathryn Ricker, Carrie Robatcek , Miranda L. Schornack, and Wade Sutton kept in contact, shared ideas, wrote and re-wrote. We became an online community of educators working toward a common goal. We became a unified voice.

I felt the power of that voice on Feb. 22, when our collaborative had the opportunity to sit down with Gov. Mark Dayton and Education Commissioner Brenda Cassellius, joined by Education Minnesota President Tom Dooher, to discuss our proposal. At its core, the VIVA MN Project states “all stakeholders—parents, students, staff, community—should be involved in a principal’s evaluation to ensure a well-founded evaluation of principals.”

Some of us even stayed behind on that day to visit our legislators and put a copy of the report into their hands. I have never felt so empowered in my life. This made ask myself, “Why haven’t I ever done something like this before?”

With today’s political climate, I hear more and more teachers say they feel as if they don’t have a voice. I understand some of that. As teachers, inherently, most of us are rule-followers. But now the rules are changing, and unless we show up and give voice to our concerns, we may be left out of some of the most important decisions facing education.

This process has made me value Education Minnesota even more. It helped me understand there are ways to make my voice heard. Our 70,000 educators should be able to make an impact on education policy in this state. Now, more than ever, we need to show up.

Glenn Morehouse Olson
Olson teaches language arts, journalism and theater at St. Francis High School.